Does the history of option quality affect nest site choice in the Acorn ant?

IF 1.4 3区 农林科学 Q2 ENTOMOLOGY
Kelsi Tyler, Dominique Vassie, Takao Sasaki
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

During decision − making, animals consider not only the current but also the past quality of options. For example, when humans evaluate performance (e.g. sales) of employees, they do not only consider the average performance but also the trend of performance; ascending performance is often viewed as more favorable than descending performance. In our study, we test if non-human animals have a similar bias when they are evaluating options using house-hunting by the acorn ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus, as our model system. Our data show that when nest-site quality is static over time, ant colonies tend to prefer the nest site which was better (i.e. darker) between two nest options. However, when the nest quality changes over time—one improves and the other worsens—more colonies choose the low-quality, but improving, nest than the high-quality, but worsening, nest. These results suggest that a continuous change of option quality may influence evaluation. We discuss alternative explanations for our results, possible mechanisms, and potential ecological benefits for keeping track of the nest-site quality.

Abstract Image

选择质量的历史是否会影响橡子蚁的巢址选择?
在决策过程中,动物不仅会考虑当前的选择质量,还会考虑过去的选择质量。例如,人类在评估员工的业绩(如销售额)时,不仅会考虑平均业绩,还会考虑业绩的趋势;上升的业绩往往比下降的业绩更有利。在我们的研究中,我们以橡子蚁(Temnothorax curvispinosus)为模型系统,测试了非人类动物在评估选项时是否存在类似的偏差。我们的数据显示,当巢穴质量随着时间的推移保持不变时,蚁群倾向于在两个巢穴选项中选择质量更好(即颜色更深)的巢穴。然而,当巢穴质量随着时间的推移发生变化时,一个巢穴质量提高,另一个巢穴质量下降,更多的蚁群会选择质量低但质量提高的巢穴,而不是质量高但质量下降的巢穴。这些结果表明,选择质量的持续变化可能会影响评估。我们将讨论对我们的结果的其他解释、可能的机制以及跟踪巢址质量的潜在生态效益。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Insectes Sociaux
Insectes Sociaux 生物-昆虫学
CiteScore
2.70
自引率
7.70%
发文量
43
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Insectes Sociaux (IS) is the journal of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI). It covers the various aspects of the biology and evolution of social insects and other presocial arthropods; these include ecology, ethology, morphology, population genetics, reproduction, communication, sociobiology, caste differentiation and social parasitism. The journal publishes original research papers and reviews, as well as short communications. An international editorial board of eminent specialists attests to the high quality of Insectes Sociaux, a forum for all scientists and readers interested in the study of social insects.
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